


Let Them Eat Cake

by Pyrobee



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bakery AU, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Have Cake and Eat It Too, Lesbian, Meet-Cute, New York AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 20:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10199126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrobee/pseuds/Pyrobee
Summary: Veronica Lodge has a serious craving for sweets, and Betty Cooper happens to work at the local bakery. They're both about to get more sugar than they expected. New York Bakery AU.





	

Veronica hates dieting. Right, who doesn’t, but she feels, deep down, that she hates it more than most. There’s just something about the smell of bread, the taste of a cupcake, the sensation of digging a fork into a slice of cake.

Her mouth waters, and she knows it’s time to blow her diet in a big way.

There’s a brand-new bakery right by her house, and it’s been taunting her for an entire month with its posts on Facebook of delicious pastries—not that she’s following them…or that she has their notifications at the top of her feed—and just general existence. She tells her friend that she’s going to be late for coffee and walks right into the bakery, head high and challenging. If anyone at her horrible school sees her shoveling cake into her mouth, her friends will give her so much shit.

The only people there at the awkward, pre-lunch time are a middle-aged couple and their kid and three older women in the back. Reassured, Veronica tones down her attitude—to normal Veronica levels, anyway—and approaches the counter. There’s someone bent over and searching through some cabinets, and Veronica can’t quite see her face. The skin of her neck is smooth and unblemished, so she’s probably young. And her back has spots of flour on it. Veronica raises an eyebrow, starting to judge as only a popular, rich teenager can judge.

A blonde head pops up, brilliant blue eyes widening, and the girl straightens with a stunning smile. Veronica blinks, as if she’s too bright to look at. Her nametag says “Betty,” and she greets the new customer with, “Hi, welcome to Hal’s. What can I tempt you into today?”

For some reason, those words render Veronica, impossibly, speechless for a moment. She takes the blonde in: off-brand jeans, flour-covered t-shirt emblazoned with “Hal’s Bakery,” and a literally Miss-America-contestant-worthy smile. Her golden hair is pulled back from her face, which has another spot of flour on it, into a ponytail, and holy shit, she’s just gorgeous. The powder had seemed dingy before but now seems ridiculously charming.

“Uh,” says Veronica.

Perhaps sensing her awkwardness, Betty holds up a menu. “I really recommend the Death By Chocolate cake,” she says, taking in Veronica’s dark, stylish clothing. And is that a hint of admiration? “You look like you’d like it.”

“I’ll take that, then,” says Veronica, recovering enough to pack a little smolder in her smile. She’d never gone for girls before, really, but what a place to start. “And a cup of black coffee please.”

Betty beams at her again and gets to work. A man comes in from the back and joins her, but Veronica can’t tear her eyes away from the blonde. She takes a seat by the window despite the heat soaking into her dark clothes—the lighting is perfect for her face—and waits. 

When Betty comes with her cake and coffee, Veronica quickly strikes up a conversation. “So what has you working here?” she asks, feeling dumb but hopeful. 

“Oh, my dad owns the place,” says Betty, looking happy. “We always bake together, so it’s nice to finally get paid for it.”

“That is nice.” They smile for a moment, and then Veronica leans in, confiding, “I’m breaking my diet today.”

Betty laughs and then gives her a once-over that has Veronica’s entire body tingling. “Well, you definitely don’t look like you need it.”

“Watch out,” said Ronnie, joking, “If you keep complimenting me like that, it’s going to be hard for me to stay away.”

Does Betty look a little too interested in that, or is Veronica imagining things? “I could hardly run out of things to say,” she replies, and damn. She winks at Veronica and gets back behind the counter, and Veronica really probably shouldn’t drink coffee with her heart already hammering in her chest. She does anyway and savors the chocolate cake—it really is delicious—but all too soon, she’s done, and her friend is texting her a string of irritated messages. She looks longingly at the counter, still kind of blown away by the other girl’s casual game, but eventually gets up to leave. The blonde looks up from her pastries, and they wave as Veronica exits, already pining.

***

It literally only takes two days for Veronica to come back. She keeps telling herself not to because she swears she gained a pound from that cake, but she finds herself walking into the bakery right after school, unable to resist. Her friends invite her to go shopping, but she pretends she has a ton of homework and instead walks straight to the bakery.

Betty isn’t at the counter. Instead, a tall, kind-looking man wearing an apron stands in her place. Disappointed, Veronica orders a coffee and sits at her window from before, brooding. Maybe she really should get to that homework…

The bell above the door jingles, and Veronica looks up to see Betty again. The man at the counter says, “Hey, honey,” and so he must be her dad, Hal. Betty greets him back, and then her eyes fall on Veronica and seem to light up.

“Death By Chocolate,” says Betty, approaching her. “You’re back.”

“That’s as good a name as any,” says Veronica, her inner bitch pointing out Betty’s scuffed shoes and short-clipped, unadorned nails, but her inner lovesick teenager taking it all in eagerly. “But my friends call me Veronica.”

“How’s Ronnie?” asks Betty, playful.

“I like it,” says Ronnie. She glances at Hal, who is wiping the counter and probably making a real effort not to be nosy. “Do you want to sit, or are you busy?”

Betty looks at Hal and holds up a finger, which he nods to. Then, smiling, she takes off her backpack and sits in front of Veronica. And of course she’d been at school. They're probably the same age.

“No cake this time?” Betty asks, gesturing to the coffee. 

“That never happened,” Veronica says, grinning. “I’m on a diet, remember?”

Betty shakes her head, exasperated. Ronnie wonders if it’s a good sign that she can already exasperate her new friend. Probably? “Are you sure you don’t want some cake? We have red velvet, and it’s to die for.” Betty actually groans a little at the thought, and Veronica quickly sips at her coffee, flushing.

“Don’t you go tempting me,” she says after a beat, swallowing. “Looking like this takes some work.”

Betty looks at her with that extra interest Ronnie so isn’t imagining and smiles. “You looked really happy not-eating that cake yesterday, though. It’d be a shame to deprive yourself of so much joy.”

She sounds joking, but Veronica tilts her head. “Oh, so you were watching me, huh?”

Betty looks caught for a second but laughs it off, face pink. “It was hard not to. I wish I had something that made me so happy.”

“Well,” says Veronica, drawing it out as she thinks it over. The cake is amazing, but there is other cake in New York. If she messes this up, she doesn't have to come back. “I could give it a try.”

Their eyes lock, and Betty’s mouth forms a little “o.” She tries to laugh it off, testing the air, but Veronica keeps her face dead serious. “What do you mean?” Betty finally asks, looking nervous.

Not the best reaction, but Veronica can work it. “I mean you should let me take you somewhere,” she says with extra smolder, “on a date.”

Betty stares at her face, probably waiting for Veronica to laugh at her or joke, and finally a smile breaks out across her face, lighting up the shop and making Ronnie’s chest ache. “Okay, yeah. That sounds great.”

It’s a while before Veronica can really believe her good luck; she has a date with a beautiful girl who really knows how to bake, and, as Veronica finds out later, has a kiss sweeter than any pastry. There goes her diet.

**Author's Note:**

> This was so much fun. I feel that my love of cake and Beronica shows through in it lol. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
